Retractable caster glide



' Nov. 11,1969

H. F. DANICO ET A RETRACTABLE CASTER GLIDE Filed NOV. 14, 1967 FIG.(|V

I INVENTORS HEN F. DANICO JUL] B W|LHELM| I BY ATTORNEY United States Patent I US. CI. 16-44 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A caster glide which is seated in a hollow leg of a fumiture piece has a spring loaded shoe which retracts into the leg when a load is placed on the furniture piece.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to retractable furniture glides and was developed primarily, although not exclusively, for furniture used in carpeted rooms of commercial establishments such as hotel rooms and function rooms, executive oflices and waiting rooms, etc., with an eye to providing an inexpensive, attractive support which from a functional point of view would tend to reduce excessive wear on the carpeting.

By utilizing a series of components which are easily manufactured and assembled, on the latter point to the extent that they practically fall together, and arriving at an assembled glide which even an unskilled person can readily install in a hollow furniture leg, the object of providing an inexpensive caster glide was satisfied. Since in the relaxed or unloaded condition, only the foot portion of the caster glide is visible and even this portion is concealed when the furniture piece is under load, eg a person is seated in a chair supported by the caster glide, the invention does not detract from the appearance of the furniture piece. On this latter point is should be noted that the molded plastic foot might well be colored to match the carpeting on which the furniture piece rests. From a functional standpoint the elliptical base of the foot results in a minimum bearing area between the foot and carpet which permits the foot to literally glide over the pile when one desires to drag the furniture piece from one location to another in the carpeted room. Further, when the furniture piece, particularly a chair, is under load and the lower ends of the legs descend onto the carpet, the chair is prevented from accidentally sliding over the carpet and, in fact, it is quite difficult for one to urge or jockey the chair from one location to another while seated. This tends to substantially reduce excessive wear by, in effect, forcing one to rise before relocating the chair. In addition, the size of the compressioin spring biasing the shoe can readily be varied to accommodate the load to which a particular line of furniture will normally be subjected. For example, a small gauge spring might well be incorporated in parts to be used on childrens furniture.

Description of the prior art The prior art includes a number of caster glides adapted to be mounted in hollow furniture legs. While many of the known glides have resilient shoes and or mountings, only a very few are designed to permit the shoe to retract into the hollow leg when a load is placed on the furniture piece, and the latter are either of a complicated and expensive nature or are somewhat difficult to install in the leg. In one known type of retractable caster glide the mechanism which allows the glide shoe to retract into the leg is a cylinder controlled by hydraulic fluid. Another type embodies a spring-loaded ball roller Patented Nov. 11, 1969 wherein the spring is biased against a cotter pin extending through aligned openings in the leg. While this arrangement is obviously unattractive from an aesthetic point of view, the cotter pin also presents a projection on which one may readily catch and tear ones clothing, particularly where the roller ball is mounted in a chair or table leg.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the illustrated embodiment of the invention a caster glide which is seated in a hollow leg of a chair has a shoe which rests on a carpeted floor and extends upwardly into the leg. A relatively narrow, elongated stern which is in tegral with the upper end of the shoe extends still further into the hollow legs, A generally tubular shell which circumscribes the stem has a peripheral flange at its lower end which engages beneath a lower edge portion of the leg and a neck portion at its upper end carrying a fastener which frictionally grips the inside wall of the leg. The shell is thereby fixedly secured within the leg. The upper portion of the shell and carries a stop. A compression spring which surrounds the portion of the stem within the shell bears against the upper end of the shoe and a tapering shoulder portion of the shell adjacent the neck portion and normally biases the foot out of the leg to the extent permitted by the stop engaging the upper end of the shell. When a load is placed on the chair, the shoe retracts into the shell and leg against the bias of the spring and the lower edge of the leg descends onto the carpeting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a part elevational, part sectional view of a fragmentary portion of a hollow chair leg having a caster glide according to the invention mounted therein in the relaxed or unloaded condition; and 1 131G. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the chair under DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For a proper understanding of the invention one should appreciate that all the components to be described in detail hereinafter are cylindrical or circular and the parts thereof are, generally speaking, symmetrical.

In the illustrative installation depicted in the drawing, the leg 1 of a chair has a relatively deep, gently tapered recess 2 which communicates with an enlarged, shallow, open-ended recess 3 at its lower end and the leg thereby presents an extreme lower edge 4 and a slightly countersunk lower edge 5.

Mounted in the recesses 2 and 3 is a retractable caster glide 6. The components of the glide include a shoe 7 and stem 8 which are of unitary molded plastic, for example nylon construction. The lower portion 9 of the shoe 7 which rests on the carpeted floor 10 has a generally elliptical configuration in transverse cross section, and its upper portion 11 which has a solid cylindrical configuration extends into the recess 2 and presents a solid platform 12 adjacent the base of the stem 8.

A tubular, open-ended shell 13 which surrounds the stem '8 has a main body portion 14, a peripheral flange 15 at the lower end of the body portion which engages beneath the edge 5 of the leg, an inwardly tapered shoulder portion 16 leading to a neck portion 17 and a reversely bent lip 18 at its end remote from the flange 15.

A fastener 19 mounted on the shell 13 has an apertured base 20 through which the neck portion 17 of the shell extends, and a plurality of outwardly and downwardly extending resilient tongues 21 which frictionally engage the internal wall of the leg defining the recess 2. The fastener 19 is secured to the shell 13 by a cooperating crimping action between the lip 18 and the shoulder por tion 1-6 of the shell. The shell is, therefore, fixedly secured to the leg 1 by the fastener 19 and the flange 15.

The stem 8 extends through and beyond the neck portion 17 of the shell and the portion thereof extending beyond the neck portion has a stop 22 mounted thereon. The stop includes a peripheral base 23 and a plurality of ratchet legs 24 struck from the base and defining a central opening through which the stem extends such that the ratchet legs bitingly engage the peripheral surface of the stem.

A circular compression spring 25 which surrounds the portion of the stem 8 within the shell 13 bears against the platform 12 on the foot portion 11 and the undersurface of the shoulder portion 16 of the shell and normally biases the foot 7 outwardly of the shell and the leg as depicted in FIG. 1 to the extent permitted by the engagement of the stop 19 against the upper surface of the lip 18 on the shell.

When a load is placed on the chair, the foot and stem retract into the shell and leg against the bias of the spring and the extreme lower end 4 of the leg descends onto the carpeting as depicted in FIG. 2.

From the following detailed description the reader will appreciate that the caster glide components are easily assembled by first crimping the lip 18 of the shell 13 over the fastener 19, thereafter placing the spring 25 and shellfastener subassembly on the stem 8 and pressing the stop 22 onto the upper end of the stem. The assembled glide is readily installed in the hollow leg 1 by wedging the fastener 19 into the recess 2 until the flange 15 on the shell engages beneath the edge on the leg. This may be accomplished either by hammering on the concave surface of the shoe 7 or preferably by applying controlled force from a press thereto.

We claim:

1. In combination with a furniture piece having a hollow leg, a retractable caster glide comprising a shoe having its lower surface resting on a floor or floor covering and an upper surface extending into the leg, a stem joined to the shoe and extending still further into the leg, a hollow open-ended shell disposed about said stern, said shell including a main body portion, an outwardly extending lateral projection at the lower end of said main body portion, a relatively narrow neck portion adjacent its upper end and an inwardly tapering shoulder portion joining said neck portion to said main body portion, said projection being engaged beneath a lower edge portion of the leg, said stern extending through and beyond said neck portion in axially movable relationship therewith, fastening means fixedly securing said shell to the leg, stop means on the portion of said stem extending beyond said neck portion of said shell, and a compression spring disposed within said shell and having one end in engagement with the upper surface of the said shoe and the other end in engagement with the shoulder portion of said shell whereby said shoe is normally biased outwardly of said leg to an extent limited by said stop means, said shoe being retractable into the leg against the bias of said spring responsive to a load on the furniture piece.

2. A combination according to claim 1 wherein said shoe and stem are of one-piece molded plastic construction.

3. A combination according to claim 1 wherein the lower portion of said shoe has an elliptical shape in transverse cross section.

4. A combination according to claim 1 wherein the upper end of said shell has a reversely bent lip and said fastening means is secured to the outer surface of said neck portion between said lip and said shoulder portion of said shell.

5. A combination according to claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes an apertured base through which the neck portion of said shell extends and a plurality of outwardly and downwardly extending tongues which frictionally grip the internal surface of the leg.

6. A combination according to claim 1 wherein said stop means is a sheet metal disc having a plurality of ratchet teeth struck therefrom and defining a central aperture therein, the upper end of said stem being seated in said aperture such that said ratchet teeth are in biting engagement therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1942 Schultz 16-44 3/1959 Cowless.

US. Cl. X.R. 

